Minister PK Sekar Babu said the government had issued an order in 2021 to procure ghee for temples exclusively from Aavin.
Published Sep 22, 2024 | 12:54 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 22, 2024 | 12:54 AM
Minister PK Sekar Babu said strict action will be initiated against those spreading rumours about Palani panchamritham. (Wikimedia Commons)
Tamil Nadu’s Minister of the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments PK Sekar Babu categorically stated that the government would strictly act against anyone spreading lies about panchamritam given to devotees at the Arulmigu Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple in Palani.
He was speaking on the backdrop of allegations that animal fat was used in laddus distributed to devotees visiting the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple atop Tirumala hills in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati.
On Saturday, 21 September, Babu said only ghee from Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Federation’s Aavin is sourced for the Panchamritam at the temple in Palani, Dindigul district. He said anyone spreading rumours about Palani panchamritam would have to face the force of law.
The minister’s assertion came after Tamil Nadu BJP industrial cell vice president Selvakumar raised doubts over the ghee supplied to the Murugan temple. “It is Uttmar Rajasekhar (AR Foods) who mixed cow meat fat and rabbit meat fat in the ghee supplied to make Tirupati laddu and (sic) supplies ghee to Palani Murugan temple as well,” he said on X.
Selvakumar commented on the fat though there was no confirmation on using animal-source foods in making the famed laddus.
Addressing reporters in Chennai, Minister Babu said the government had issued an order in 2021 to procure ghee for temples exclusively from Aavin.
PK Sekar Babu with Udhayanidhi Stalin. (PK Sekar Babu/ X )
“Ghee is procured only from Aavin for temples in Tamil Nadu. In case of excess demand, private companies may be roped in to address the shortfall. There was never any complaint against the private suppliers,” he said.
The accusation of adulteration in laddus has been worrisome due to the involvement of a Dindigul, Tamil Nadu-based private company. News agency PTI reported that AR Dairy Food Private Limited had supplied the stock of ghee found to have been adulterated with animal fat.
Company officials said it had only supplied milk to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in June and July. Each time the milk was sent, it was accompanied by reports from accredited laboratories to prove it was not adulterated.
Rajasekharan R, director of AR Dairy Foods, has also clarified to the media that only cow milk was used to make ghee, and all batches of ghee were produced under laboratory tests. Ghee was dispatched only after proper testing, he clarified.
BJP’s Selvakumar said on X that the DMK government had appointed Rajashekharan as a trustee of the Palani Temple Committee and that the board of trustees has been giving vague answers when questioned about the quality of the panchamritam. He questioned who the committee was trying to protect.
“After the DMK came to power, such a good person has been appointed as a member of the Palani Temple Trustee Committee by the Sanatana Abolippu DMK Government,” read the post.
‘Sanatana Abolippu’ is a colloquial reference to the comments of Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK minister and son of Chief Minister MK Stalin, who in September 2023, had equated Sanatana Dharma to dengue and malaria, and called for its eradication.
The current controversy over animal fat in temple prasadam was stoked by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s remarks, who alleged that the previous YSRCP regime led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had overseen shoddy practices that led to the adulteration of ghee used in the laddu at the Tirumala temple.
On 20 September 2024, TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao said laboratory tests had shown adulteration of the ghee used to make laddus.
The state Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments said that the panchamrita offered as prasadam at Palani, considered one of six abodes (Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Murugan, is prepared with the finest bananas, sugar, honey, dates, cardamom, sugar candy and ghee.
The state department urged citizens not to fall for unfounded rumours.
The Palani temple administration has already filed a complaint against BJP officials Vinoj P Selvam and Selvakumar at the Palani Adivaram police station, over the information posted on social media. The state government has warned that it, too, would take legal action if the rumour-mongering continued.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas).
